For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the following meanings:
ALARM ADMINISTRATOR
Person or persons, designated by the First Selectman, who shall administer, control and review false alarm reduction efforts and administer the provisions of this chapter.
ALARM DISPATCH REQUEST
A notification to an emergency communications center that an alarm, either manual or automatic, has been activated at a particular alarm site.
ALARM INSTALLATION COMPANY
A person in the business of selling, providing, maintaining, servicing, repairing, altering, replacing, moving or installing an alarm system in an alarm site.
ALARM REGISTRATION
Authorization granted by the alarm administrator to an alarm user to operate an alarm system.
ALARM SIGNAL
A detectable signal, audible or visual, generated by an alarm system, to which law enforcement is requested to respond.
ALARM SITE
A single fixed premises or location served by an alarm system or systems. Each unit, if served by a separate alarm system in a multiunit building or complex, shall be considered a separate alarm site.
ALARM SYSTEM
A device or series of devices, including, but not limited to, hard-wired systems and systems interconnected with a radio frequency method such as cellular or private radio signals, which emit or transmit a remote or local audible, visual or electronic signal indicating an alarm condition and intended to summon law enforcement, including local alarm systems. "Alarm system" does not include an alarm installed in a vehicle or on someone's person unless the vehicle or the personal alarm is permanently located at a site. For the purposes of this chapter, "alarm system" excludes smoke, fire and carbon monoxide detectors.
ALARM USER
Any person who has contracted for monitoring, repair, installation or maintenance service from an alarm installation company or monitoring company for an alarm system or who owns or operates an alarm system which is not monitored, maintained or repaired under contract.
AUTOMATIC VOICE DIALER
Any electrical, electronic, mechanical, or other device capable of being programmed to send a prerecorded voice message, when activated, over a telephone line, radio or other communication system, to a law enforcement, public safety or emergency services agency requesting dispatch.
CANCELLATION
The process whereby response is terminated when a monitoring company for the alarm site notifies the emergency communications center representing the responding law enforcement agency units that there is not an existing situation at the alarm site requiring law enforcement agency response after an alarm dispatch request.
FALSE ALARM
An alarm dispatch request for a law enforcement agency response when the responding law enforcement officer finds no evidence of a criminal offense or attempted criminal offense after having completed a timely investigation of the alarm site or the activation of an alarm system through mechanical failure, malfunction, improper installation or negligence of the owner or lessee of an alarm system or of his employees or agents. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a false alarm shall not include an alarm which can reasonably be determined to have been caused or activated by unusually violent conditions of nature, nor does it include other extraordinary circumstances not reasonably subject to control by the alarm user.
HOLDUP ALARM
A silent alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a robbery in progress.
LOCAL ALARM SYSTEM
Any alarm system, which is not monitored, that annunciates an alarm only at the alarm site and is not monitored by a remote monitoring facility, whether installed by an alarm installation company or alarm user.
MONITORING
The process by which a monitoring company receives signals from an alarm system and relays an alarm dispatch request to the municipality for the purpose of summoning law enforcement personnel to the alarm site.
PANIC OR DURESS ALARM
An audible alarm signal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal a life-threatening or emergency situation requiring law enforcement response.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, partnership, association, organization or similar entity.
REGISTRATION YEAR
A registration year means the period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. Registrations will initially be valid beginning on the day and month on which an alarm registration is issued, continuing through the subsequent June 30.
RESPONDER or KEY HOLDER
An individual capable of reaching the alarm site within 20 minutes and having access to the alarm site, the code to the alarm system and the authority to approve repairs to the alarm system.
RUNAWAY ALARM
A security alarm system that produces repeated alarm signals that do not appear to be caused by separate human action.
SIA CONTROL PANEL STANDARD CP-01
The American National Standard Institute (ANSI) approved Security Industry Association (SIA) CP-01 Control Panel Standard, as may be updated from time to time, that details recommended design features for security system control panels and their associated arming and disarming devices to reduce the incidents of false alarms. Control panels built and tested to this standard by Underwriters Laboratory (UL), or other nationally recognized testing organizations, will be marked to state: "Design evaluated in accordance with SIA CP-01 Control Panel Standard Features for False Alarm Reduction."
SUSPENSION OF RESPONSE
Law enforcement will not respond to an alarm dispatch request from the monitoring company or local alarm system activation except if a responder or key holder arrives and finds evidence of a forced entry.
TAKEOVER
The transaction or process by which an alarm user takes over control of an existing alarm system which was previously controlled by another alarm user.
VERIFY
An attempt by the monitoring company, or its representative, to contact the alarm site and/or alarm user by telephone and/or other electronic means, whether or not actual contact with a person is made, to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting law enforcement dispatch, in an attempt to avoid an unnecessary alarm dispatch request. For the purpose of this chapter, telephone verification shall require, as a minimum, that a second call be made to a different number if the first attempt fails to reach an alarm user who can properly identify himself or herself to determine whether an alarm signal is valid before requesting dispatch.
ZONE
A division of devices into which an alarm system is divided to indicate the general location from which an alarm signal is transmitted.
Alarm registrations must be renewed annually. After the first year, and each year thereafter, the alarm administrator will issue notice of alarm registration renewal, which must be completed and returned within 30 days.
A person whose alarm registration has been revoked may have the alarm registration reinstated by the alarm administrator if the person meets the alarm administrator's requirements for reinstatement which may include:
A.
Submission of a new application and payment of a reinstatement fee;
B.
Payment or otherwise a resolution of all outstanding citations and fines;
C.
Submission of a certification from an alarm installation company stating that the alarm system has been inspected and repaired, if necessary, by the alarm installation company;
D.
Proof that an employee of the alarm installation company or monitoring company caused the false alarm;
E.
Upgrade of the alarm control panel to meet AISC/SIA Control Panel Standard CP-01; and/or
F.
A written statement from an independent inspector approved by the alarm administrator that the alarm system has been inspected and is in good working order.
In the interest of public safety, all information contained in and gathered through the alarm registration applications and applications for appeals shall be held in confidence by all employees or representatives of the municipality and by any third-party administrator or employees of a third-party administrator with access to such information.
An alarm registration is not intended to nor will it create a contract, duty or obligation, either expressed or implied, of a response. Any and all liability and consequential damage resulting from the failure to respond to a notification is hereby disclaimed, and governmental immunity as provided by law is retained. By applying for an alarm registration, the alarm user acknowledges that law enforcement response may be influenced by factors such as the availability of units, priority of calls, weather conditions, traffic conditions, emergency conditions, staffing levels and prior response history.
The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, shall appoint one Citation Hearing Officer, other than the
alarm administrator, police officers or employees of the Town of Newtown or persons who issue citations, to conduct the hearing authorized by §
104-14.